From Bank to Battlefield

Visit of the Prince of Wales in 1920

The Prince of Wales' procession passing along George
Street, Sydney, 16 June 1920, on its way to the Commonwealth
Bank's Head Office building in Martin Place, for
the official welcome and banquet. PN-002259

At the Imperial War Conference in 1917, and again at
the conference of overseas Prime Ministers in 1918,
King George V had foreshadowed a visit to the Dominions
by his eldest son, “when peace comes”. At
the end of the War, the King kept his pledge and, following
on from successful visits to other countries, including
the USA and West Indies in 1919, Edward Albert Christian
George Andrew Patrick David, the Prince of Wales,
embarked on a journey to Australia.

The visit was in part to offer official thanks for
the support Australia had shown Great Britain during
World War I. It was also designed to strengthen the
links between Australia and the Empire.

The Prince of Wales arrived in Australia on board the HMS Renown in April
1920, having left England the previous
month. He spent nine days in Victoria, eleven days
in New South Wales, four days in Tasmania, eleven days
in Western Australia, six days in South Australia and
eight days in Queensland. In all, he visited 110 cities
and towns across Australia.

His interest in, and affection for, those who had taken
part in the war effort, and his often informal and
good humoured style, saw his popularity soar. He showed
a particular concern for the repatriation of soldiers,
especially the wounded, and wrote an open letter from
on board the Renown congratulating those who had helped
in this regard.

The ‘Digger Prince’

The Prince of Wales had himself served in World War
I, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1916, and
this perhaps accounts for some of the public support
shown for his visit, which took place just two years
after the conclusion of the war. Shouts of 'Digger'
accompanied him throughout his visit and he became
widely known as the ‘Digger Prince’ – one
of the highest compliments at that time, given the
regard in which all servicemen and women were held by
the nation.

Wherever he went, public holidays were declared, receptions
and balls were held, buildings were decorated in welcome,
confetti rained down, foundation stones were laid and
memorials unveiled. Crowds lined streets, roads and
railway lines to catch a glimpse of him. The popularity
of this visit is perhaps evidenced by the large number
of items submitted for copyright registration at the
time of the Prince's tour. Royal memorabilia was everywhere
– from coins to books, programs to trinkets. The Commonwealth
Bank's staff magazine, Bank Notes, published a
souvenir edition in July 1920, in which full details
of the Royal Tour were recorded, including the investiture
of the Bank's Governor, Denison Miller, which
was conducted by the Prince on the 17 June. Denison
Miller was knighted for his public service to Australia,
his role as Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, and his
dedication to public banking and to War finance.

The Royal Tour

At receptions held across the country, people were
accorded a glimpse of their future king, who often
stood for hours as his subjects filed past him. At such
an event at the Sydney Town Hall on the 18 June 1920,
the Sydney Morning Herald noted that:

“It was the meeting between the Prince and the
great democracy. For hours the people filed past His
Royal Highness. Many of them waited for hours in the
queue for the opportunity. The queue, in which the
people stood about twelve deep, was the longest ever
seen in Sydney...The Prince stood for an hour on the
dais in the Town Hall, while the people passed at an
average rate estimated by the Town Hall Clerk (Mr. Nesbitt)
at 170 per minute… It is estimated that about 50 000
walked past the Prince and that about 100 000 people
were in the streets outside the Hall.”

By the end of the Royal Tour, one of the most popular
ever, the Prince had cemented Australia's bonds
to, and affection for, Great Britain and the Empire.
Such was the success of his visit that on leaving Australia
in August 1920, he was widely acknowledged as having
endeared himself, and the monarchy, to the hearts and
minds of Australians everywhere.

The HMS Renown (Battlecruiser Renown-Class)

‘HMS Renown, Sydney Harbour’, painted by
Arthur Streeton in 1922. Streeton was appointed Australian
Official War Artist in 1918 and was based with the AIF
(2nd Division), holding the rank of Honorary Lieutenant.
He spent two periods in France documenting the Western
Front for the Commonwealth Government.
Source: Australian
War Memorial (ART14910)

The HMS Renown was the lead ship of its class of battlecruisers.
Constructed in Glasgow during the start of the First
World War, and launched as part of the Grand (main)
Fleet of the British Royal Navy in 1916, the Renown
was regarded as one of the most elegant warships ever
built. Renown, and its sister ship the
HMS Repulse, were the world's fastest
ships upon their completion.
They possessed the heaviest firepower and armour and
were much larger than other naval vessels of their
time.

Despite its size and firepower, the Renown did not
see combat during the First World War. It was part of
the fleet involved in an unsuccessful attempt to intercept
the German 3rd Half-Flotilla of destroyers that had
annihilated a Scandinavian convoy and most of its escorts
off the coast of Norway. For most of the war the Renown
patrolled the North Sea uneventfully. Both HMS
Renown and HMS Repulse were present
at the surrender of the High Seas Fleet (the battle
fleet of the German Imperial Navy) at Scapa
Flow in Scotland on the 21st November 1918.

Renown becomes Royal

At the end of the First World War, the Renown was refitted
as a royal yacht. It transported Edward, the Prince
of Wales, to Australia on his highly successful Royal
Tour in 1920; a tour to thank the people of Australia
officially for the sacrifices made during the Great
War. The First World War official war artist, Arthur
Streeton, captured the arrival of the Renown and its
Prince in his painting, HMS Renown, Sydney Harbour.
The Prince of Wales' arrival caused great excitement,
which is conveyed within the painting. On the foreshore
of the Harbour, spectators' wave from vantage
points as the ship is welcomed by a flotilla of boats.

The visit also marked the Royal Australian Navy's
first fleet review, which was held in Port Phillip
Bay on the 26th May 1920, with the fleet inspected by
the Prince of Wales. The Australian Fleet at that time
consisted of 28 vessels.

The Renown also became a floating zoo during the Prince's
visit, taking back to Britain various “ship's
mascots” for zoological parks, including a cockatoo,
two rare lizards, emu chicks, a Dominican tortoise,
opossums, parrots and a wallaby.

In the years between the First and Second World Wars,
the Renown was commissioned on several occasions for
tours by the British Royal Family, including a tour
of India and Japan by the Prince of Wales in 1921-1922
and in 1927 for the Duke (later King George VI) and
Duchess of York's tour of Australia. Like the
tour by the Prince of Wales in 1920, the tour by the
Duke of York was also, in part, to thank the Australian
people for sending so many of their young men to fight
in Europe.

Return to the Home Fleet

At the onset of the Second World War, the Renown was
recommissioned as part of the Home Fleet, patrolling
the North Sea and the South Atlantic. It was one of
the ships of the British and French navies involved
in the search for the German cruiser the Admiral Graf
Spee in 1939 and the German battleship Bismarck in
1941. It spent time in Gibraltar, escorting convoys there,
and provided cover to several Arctic convoys. On returning
to England, the Renown spent much of 1943 transporting
Winston Churchill and his staff to and from
conferences with various Allied leaders. In early 1944, Renown was
transferred to the
Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean where it supported numerous
attacks on Japanese-occupied facilities in
Indonesia and various island groups
in the Indian Ocean. The ship returned to the Home
Fleet in early 1945 and was refitted before being placed
in reserve after the end
of the war. Sadly its days as a warship were numbered
and it was sold for scrap in 1948.

Please accept my congratulations on your help to
repatriate the Diggers, who have done so much for the
Empire.

They were successful on active service both at sea
and on land in the Great War, and those of them who
have returned deserve every chance of being equally
successful now that they are back in civil life.

Gallery

These images, from the Reserve Bank of Australia's Archives,
record the visit of the Prince of Wales to Sydney in
June 1920. The visit was, in part, to thank the Australian
people for the sacrifices made during the war years.
It was also to cement relations between Great Britain
and Australia. The Prince was especially concerned for
the welfare of returned soldiers and this, coupled with
his own war service, saw him referred to affectionately
as the ‘Digger Prince’. Huge crowds welcomed him wherever
he went and his good humour and ease of manner made
the Prince, and the Royal tour, one of the most successful
ever.

The Prince of Wales visits Sydney

The Prince of Wales arrived in Australia in April 1920
and visited 110 cities and towns during his stay. While
in Sydney he visited the Head Office of the Commonwealth
Bank, where a banquet was held in his honour. Buildings
and streets throughout Sydney were decorated with flags,
banners and flowers and, at night, amazing illuminations
brought the city to life.

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